Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a setting device for setting a print page to be clear-coated, an image forming apparatus provided with the setting device, and a clear-coat setting method for setting the print page to be clear-coated.
Description of the Background Art
Recently, demand for higher image quality is increasing for full-color image forming apparatuses based on electrophotography. With such a demand, an image forming apparatus providing clear-coating has been proposed, which forms a high-quality image on a sheet of recording paper and, thereafter, further forms a toner image that becomes transparent after fixing on the sheet, for the purpose of realizing glossy finish.
By way of example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2007-322819 (hereinafter referred to as '819 Reference) discloses an image forming system including a color image forming apparatus forming a plurality of color toner images, a clear-coat image forming apparatus forming a clear-coated image using a clear toner (clear coating material) that becomes transparent after fixing, connected as a subsequent stage to the color image forming apparatus, and a book binding machine connected thereto as a further subsequent stage. The color image forming apparatus and the clear-coat image forming apparatus together form a clear-coated image at a sheet folding position, when a folding mode of the book binding machine is designated.
Generally, a user wants to clear-coat various pages such as pages with photographs or pictures, not only the front cover and the folding position of the innermost page. In the image forming system of '819 Reference, though it is possible to form a clear-coated image at the folding position of a sheet, if the user wishes to have any page he/she likes clear-coated, it is necessary for the user to grasp beforehand which pages are to be clear-coated and to set clear-coating page by page. Therefore, setting of pages to be clear-coated is very troublesome.